Race Director’s Report – 10Peaks™ Brecon Beacons 2017

Introduction

When we took on the two 10Peaks™ events at the end of 2016, we decided to change very little for 2017, and adopt an approach of delivering the event first in the Lake District, and now in the Brecon Beacons. Certainly, this weekend in South Wales proved to be a tough test for the runners, and I want to congratulate everyone who braved the challenging weather on the top. Bravo!

Paul Smith who started 10Peaks The Lakes, and Mark Bottomley who organised 10Peaks Brecon Beacons have done a great job establishing two popular and hard mountain running races. Following in their footsteps was never going to be easy, but I pleased to say that in 2017 we have kept these races going, and my thoughts now turn to the future.

There are various incremental changes and improvements that I’d like to make. I won’t wager them now, until we have had the opportunity to reflect on the feedback, but simple things like improving the efficiency of the drop back return are easy wins for everyone. Of course, there are the step changes are under consideration to. We certainly have a vision for where the ‘event brand’ could go in the future, and we do have some exciting plans for developing the existing races, and potentially some new 10Peaks events in 2018. If you are on our email database you’ll be the first to hear about the developments.

Thanks to the Event Team

Always the most important ‘thank you’ of any event is the Event Team! For our second 10Peaks event, we had many of our regular Event Team members that are seasoned veterans of many other Ourea Events races, some new faces, and we were also fortunate to be joined by some experienced volunteers who had helped at previous 10Peaks Brecon Beacons events; their contribution was important for aiding the continuity of the event, as we took on the reigns from Paul Smith and Mark Bottomley. The event team was:

Abbi Forsyth

Anna Morrison

Carwyn “Caz’ Phillips

Colin Harding

Duncan Anderson

Garry Perratt

Gary Tompsett

Ian Cowie

Kevin Powderly

Lawrie Jones

Martin Loveless

Mat Nelson

Matthew Hand

Rhys Pippard

Sandy Restall

Sarah-Jane Restall

Sean O’Connor

Shan Jones

Stewart Bellamy

Stuart Smith

Sue Dowker

Tiffany Hanley

Tom Hecht

Tom Withers

Prize Winners – Long Course

1st Female: Katie Hateley (23rd overall)

2nd Female: Natalie Holroyd (37th overall)

3rd Female: Katie Iliffe (38th overall)

=1st Male: Matt Tomlinson

=1st Male: Robin Carter

3rd Male: Ollie Stoten

The fight for the outright win was very tight for the leading men on the Long Course. All the top three finished just seconds apart. Despite strong running from all three, route choice proved to be the decisive factor. Matt and Robin finished simultaneous, but due the rolling start, Matt had a one second lead, and generously asked for one second penalty so that Robin and he could be equal winners. The spirit of ultra-running in the mountain exemplified.

Prize Winners – Short Course

1st Female: Wendy Houvenaghel (10th overall)

2nd Female: Becky Sarson (13th overall)

3rd Female: Naomi Prosser (14th overall)

There was impressive running from the leading ladies on the Short Course, with five finishing in the top twenty. I hope that Wendy will take this a compliment (certainly, it was meant that way), but several the male runners who finished just after her, described her as a ‘beast’ for the speedy run into the finish. Well done everyone.

1st Male: Mathew Powell

2nd Male: Simon Triscott

3rd Male: Nick Brenchley

Course Statistics – Long Course

Entries: 106

Starters: 85

Finishers: 70

% Finish Rate: 82%

Course Statistics – Short Course

Entries: 83

Starters: 72

Finishers: 68

% Finish Rate: 94%

GPS Tracks

All the participants’ GPS tracks are public and available for download for everyone to view (link is to a zip-file download of all tracks so apologies, you’ll likely need to use your desktop/laptop)

Social Media

Please check out our Facebook page to re-watch highlights of the action from ‘The Brecon Beacons’ in both photos and videos – and don’t hesitate to tag all those known to you in photos, share posts and your photos from the event:

One super-challenging day back in early September…
Please tag directly in the photos anyone you recognise!

Don’t forget to have a browse through both our Instagram and Twitter profiles too and follow to keep up to date ahead of 2018!

10Peaks The Lakes

We hope you enjoyed 10Peaks Brecon Beacons, and will consider joining us in the Lake District in 2018 for 10Peaks The Lakes. The event is based from Keswick and the stunning courses take in some of the most iconic mountains in England including the highest; Scafell Pike. Like our Lakes event, 10Peaks The Lakes includes GPS tracking, so your friends and family will be able to watch your exploits from the comfort of their home/pub/ etc.

Feedback

Feedback from anyone who engaged with the 2017 race, from participants through to audiences keeping updated via news/social media/tracking from afar, is very important to us. Whatever you have to say, positive or negative we are keen to hear your thoughts. This is so important for us in refining and improving the event. Certainly, the honest feedback we have received over the years has been instrumental in polishing our other events. So, please don’t be shy and get in touch with your comments.

Other Ourea Events races you might like…

1) Marmot Dark Mountains– January 2018 – do you dare take on the UK’s only winter overnight mountain marathon?

2) SILVA Great Lakeland 3Day™ – May 2018 – an adventurous three-day mountain marathon with a unique, relaxed and friendly atmosphere that attracts both runners and long-distance walkers.